German composer and pianist, born in 1770 (baptized 17 December 1770) in Bonn, Germany and died 26 March 1827 in Vienna, Austria. Beethoven was the eldest son of a singer in the Kapelle of the Archbishop-Elector of Cologne and grandson of the Archbishop's Kapellmeister. He moved in 1792 to Vienna, where he had some lessons from Haydn and others, quickly establishing himself as a remarkable keyboard-player and original composer. By 1815 increasing deafness made public performance impossible and accentuated existing eccentricities of character, patiently tolerated by a series of rich patrons and his royal pupil the Archduke Rudolph. Beethoven did much to enlarge the possibilities of music and widen the horizons of later generations of composers. To his contemporaries he was sometimes a controversial figure, making heavy demands on listeners both by the length and by the complexity of his writing, as he explored new fields of music.
Depicted in Bill & Teds Excellent Adventure and the comic books based on the movie and its sequel by Marvel Comics. Portrayed by Gary Oldman in Immortal Beloved , Ed Harris in Copying Beethoven and Erich von Stroheim in Napolon .
Was planning a tenth symphony at the time of his death.
Insisted on conducting the premiere of his ninth symphony even though he was totally deaf. One of the musicians had to turn him around to the audience to see they were applauding wildly.
Usually worked on several compositions at once. Always struggled to achieve the rightness present in his music; sometimes altered a passage as many as 20 times.
Always considered his "Moonlight" sonata to be inferior to many of his other works for piano, even though it became enormously popular.
Originally dedicated his third symphony to Napolon Bonaparte , then scratched out the dedication when he learned Bonaparte had proclaimed himself Emperor of France.
Is generally regarded as the first romantic composer; his third symphony was a radical departure from anything written up until that time.
The finale of his Ninth Symphony, often called "Ode to Joy", was the first to use a choir in a strictly symphonic work. Presently, it is used as the "national anthem" of the European Union.
The Beatles song "Because" is reportedly based on the chord pattern of his "Moonlight Sonata" played backwards.
A First Movement and Allegro for what would have been Beethovens 10th Symphony were realized by Barry Cooper in 1989, compiled mostly from 50 sketches and rough drafts (none containing more than 30 bars of music). According to Cooper, "... all the basic thematic material is Beethovens, but appropriate harmony has had to be added in places where it is missing, the movement has had to be orchestrated in Beethovens style (with the aid of only a few clues in the sketches), and linking passages based on Beethovens themes have been inserted where necessary.".
Suffered from textbook symptoms of lead poisoning; hair samples have revealed lead in concentrations 100 times that of normal.
According to his correspondence, he grew up under a physically and mentally abusive father.
Frequently worked as a musical tutor to members of the aristocracy.
He described the opening of his Fifth symphony as "death knocking upon the door". It would later be used as a signature piece for the Allies during WW2, since the notes unintenionally were Morse Code for the letter "V" (for "Victory").
There is no actual record of Beethovens birth. He is traditionally assumed to have been born on December 16, 1770 because his baptism was recorded as taking place on the following day, but the real natal date and hour are unknown. As an adult, Beethoven considered himself to be two years younger than his given age and obstinately evaded the question of his birth date. December 16 is still internationally celebrated as Beethovens birthday by music lovers.
He was considered by Leonard Bernstein to have been the greatest composer who has ever lived.
His Ninth Symphony has the scherzo as the second movement, and the adagio (slow) movement as the third. This was a radical departure from common practice; it was customary to make the second movement in a symphony the slow one, and the third movement a scherzo.
Was perhaps the first composer to use brass instruments as part of the orchestral texture of a composition; they had previously been used only at special moments where they would stand out, or as solo instruments.
The second movement of his Ninth Symphony has a passage in which the tympani (kettledrums) play solo and tuned to a certain pitch. This had never been done in a symphony.
His funeral on March 29, 1827, was a major public event. An estimated 20,000 people stood in reverence as his funeral bier passed through the streets of Vienna. Soldiers were needed to control grief-stricken crowds. After nine priests blessed his body, he was buried in a grave marked by a simple pyramid with one word: "Beethoven".
His final words are subject to historical debate. According to one report, he said "Friends, applaud. The comedy is over." Another has him saying, "I shall hear in Heaven." Yet another has him saying, "I feel as if up to now I had written no more than a few notes." While another has him saying to his friend Johann Hummel (who was at his bedside), "Is it not true, Hummel, that I have some talent after all?" Another has him saying, "There, do you hear the bell? Dont you hear it ringing? The curtain must drop. Yes! My curtain is falling." Another report has him saying nothing; simply shaking his fists defiantly at the heavens as a thunderstorm raged outside his window.
He was the first composer to use the piccolo in a symphony.
He was the first composer to use trombones in a symphony.
He eventually became very dissatisfied with the lessons that he took from Joseph Haydn , and actually said, "I never learned anything from Haydn". Haydn, once an admirer of his music, became rather critical of what would later become highly acclaimed Beethoven compositions.
He would have become a pupil of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , if he had not received an urgent letter saying that his mother was critically ill, forcing him to return home again. By the time Beethoven was free to take lessons from Mozart, Mozart was dead.
He was a student of Antonio Salieri
Appropriately, but coincidentally, the first four notes of his Fifth Symphony are also Morse Code for the letter V, which is the Roman numeral for five.
He used the harp in only one of his compositions - his ballet "The Creatures of Prometheus".
Beethovens "Fifth Symphony" was sampled in the 1970s disco era by Walter Murphy , who renamed the instrumental piece "A Fifth of Beethoven", which became an international hit.
Dedicated the C sharp minor sonata to the Countess Giulietta Guicciardi.
He was the first composer to imitate the calls of a quail, a cuckoo, and a nightingale all in one symphony (his sixth, the "Pastoral", which is heard, abridged, in Disneys "Fantasia"). Imitations of animal sounds had been done in other works, such as Leopold Mozart s brief "Toy Symphony" and Antonio Vivaldi s "The Four Seasons", but never in a symphony that was forty minutes long.
Moonlight Sonatas first movement was purposely written in low notes, not to set an eerie mood, but because Beethoven couldnt hear the higher ones.
A contemporary of Beethoven, German composer and virtuoso pianist Daniel Steibelt (who believed he himself was the best in Vienna) challenged Beethoven to a musical duel in front of an audience. History has it that Beethoven--being the superior artist--casually humiliated Steibelt by playing his music upside down, parodying his grandiosity, and adding his own embellishments that Steibelt stormed out and vowed never to step foot in Vienna again as long as Beethoven lived there. Beethoven died in Vienna approximately 40 years later.
Music is the one incorporeal entrance into the higher world of knowledge,which comprehends mankind but which mankind cannot comprehend.
Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy, it is the,wine of a new procreation, and I am Bacchus who presses out this,glorious wine for men and makes them drunk with the spirit.
We mortals with immortal minds are only born for sufferings and joys,and one could almost say that the most excellent receive joy through,sufferings.
I shall hear in Heaven.
Don’t only practice your art, but force your way into its secrets, for it and knowledge can raise men to the divine.
Music is . . . A higher revelation than all Wisdom & Philosophy,I would rather write 10,000 notes than a single letter of the alphabet.
The true artist is not proud, he unfortunately sees that art has no limits; he feels darkly how far he is from the goal; and though he may be admired by others, he is sad not to have reached that point to which his better genius only appears as a distant, guiding sun. I would, perhaps, rather come to you and your people, than to many rich folk who display inward poverty.
Music is the one incorporeal entrance into the higher world of knowledge which comprehends mankind but which mankind cannot comprehend.
Music is like a dream. One that I cannot hear.
Anyone who tells a lie has not a pure heart, and cannot make a good soup.
It is my wish that you may have at better and freer life than I have had. Recommend virtue to your children; it alone, not money, can make them happy. I speak from experience; this was what upheld me in time of misery.
I shall seize fate by the throat.
Nothing is more intolerable than to have admit to yourself your own errors.
If once he has got the right fingering, plays in good time, with the notes fairly correct, then only pull him up about the rendering; and when he has arrived at that stage, don’t let him stop for the sake of small faults, but point them out to him when he has played the piece throughI have always adopted this plan; it soon forms musicians which, after all, is one of the first aims of art and it gives less trouble both to master and pupil.
Plaudite, amici, comedia finita est. (Applaud, my friends, the comedy is,Applaud my friends, the comedy is over. . . [on his death bed],Whoever tells a lie is not pure of heart, and such a person can not cook a clean soup.
I like your opera - I think I will set it to music,Beethoven can write music thank God - but he can do nothing else on earth.
This is the mark of a really admirable man: steadfastness in the face of trouble.
I joyfully hasten to meet death. If it come before I have had opportunity to develop all my artistic faculties, it will come, my hard fate notwithstanding, too soon, and I should probably wish it later - yet even then I shall be happy, for will it not deliver me from a state of endless suffering?,Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy.
Music should strike fire from the heart of man, and bring tears from the eyes of woman.
Music is the mediator between the spiritual and the sensual life.
Tones sound, and roar and storm about me until I have set them down in notes.
Music comes to me more readily than words.
Beethoven can write music, thank God, but he can do nothing else on earth.
Music is the wine which inspires one to new generative processes, and I am Bacchus who presses out this glorious wine for mankind and makes them spiritually drunken.
Recommend virtue to your children; it alone, not money, can make them happy. I speak from experience.
The true artist is not proud: he unfortunately sees that art has no limits; he feels darkly how far he is from the goal, and though he may be admired by others, he is sad not to have reached that point to which his better genius only appears as a distant, guiding sun.
Art! Who comprehends her? With whom can one consult concerning this great goddess?.
